Food Systems Transformation and Agroecology: The Surest Path to Climate Justice
Baku, Azerbaijan – On Agriculture Day at COP29, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) highlights the urgency of transitioning to agroecology and transforming food systems as vital steps toward achieving climate justice. With over 70% of Africa’s population reliant on rain-fed agriculture and the continent disproportionately bearing the brunt of climate change, agroecology offers a proven pathway to enhance resilience, protect biodiversity, and ensure food sovereignty for millions of smallholder farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, and Indigenous communities.
AFSA emphasizes that agroecology—a people-centered, science-driven approach blending Indigenous knowledge with sustainable practices—is a key solution for building resilience and promoting food sovereignty. This pathway aligns with global calls for a holistic food systems approach, including scaling up sustainable farming practices, reducing emissions from industrial agriculture, and creating robust, locally led adaptation frameworks.
AFSA’s Position on Agriculture at COP29
Advancing Agroecology: Agroecology offers a systemic solution to climate challenges, enhancing soil health, conserving biodiversity, and reducing reliance on external chemical inputs. It ensures safe, nutritious food while fostering social equity and sustainable livelihoods. Parties must integrate agroecology into national and global climate strategies as a critical adaptation and mitigation measure for resilient food systems. Agroecology should feature in the upcoming topics under the Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Implementation of Agriculture and Food Security.
Prioritizing Food Systems Transformation: AFSA calls for the full integration of food systems transformation into climate policies. This includes promoting sustainable farming practices, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial agriculture, and ensuring food systems are resilient to climate shocks.
Equitable Climate Finance: COP29 should deliver a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) prioritizing accessible, grants-based finance for agriculture and food systems, with a focus on empowering smallholder food producers and community-led initiatives. Based on the Adaptation Finance Gap Report 2023, the huge financing gap for climate adaptation is disproportionately affecting Africa.
AFSA urges countries to recognize agroecology as a proven adaptation and mitigation measure in climate policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). NAPs are a critical framework for climate adaptation, and we call for a swift conclusion of the negotiations, taking into consideration the vulnerability of developing countries and the obligation of developed countries to provide Means of Implementation (MoI).
We call on parties at COP29 to commit to bold actions that champion agroecology as a sustainable, equitable solution to the climate crisis. Transforming food systems and supporting Africa’s most vulnerable communities are essential for achieving global climate justice.
